In-vehicle controller and program for instructing computer to excute operation instruction method

ABSTRACT

In a vehicle-mounted control apparatus, a control unit  2  displays guidance on an operation of the vehicle-mounted control apparatus by voice input on a display device  6 , and makes the user get training so that the user can master the techniques for operating the vehicle-mounted control apparatus (in step ST 4 ). At this time, by using a voice which the user tries to input in order to master the techniques for operating the vehicle-mounted control apparatus, the voice recognition unit  5  learns the features of the user&#39;s voice in the background, and computes recognition parameters. Thereby, the user can know how to operate the vehicle-mounted control apparatus and can also register the features of the voice in the vehicle-mounted control apparatus.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted control apparatusthat performs control operations according to a voice command, and aprogram that causes a computer to execute a method of providing guidanceon the operation of the vehicle-mounted control apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, there has been provided a car navigation apparatus thatmakes a conversational explanation of guidance on the operation of thecar navigation apparatus by using a screen and by voice so as to helpusers to make keystrokes to input a command to the car navigationapparatus (for example, see Japanese patent application publication No.2000-97719). There has been also provided a car navigation apparatusthat can directly receive a voice command in a command execution modewithout displaying an operating guide, as a method of making it possiblefor the user to input a command in a shorter time by accepting input ofconversational commands.

However, when inputting a command by voice, the user may be unable tocorrectly input the command into the car navigation apparatus unless theuser is accustomed to operating the prior art car navigation apparatus.In some cases, the user may not activate an unfamiliar audio inputfunction. In addition, the user has to take the trouble to carry out aregistration process in order to make the prior art car navigationapparatus learn the user's voice, and there is a possibility that theuser has not carried out such a registration process.

It is therefore an object of the present invention is provide aneasy-to-operate vehicle-mounted control apparatus that requires users toperform only a small amount of operations, and a program that causes acomputer to execute a method of providing guidance on the operation ofthe vehicle-mounted control apparatus.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided avehicle-mounted control apparatus including a voice recognition meansfor recognizing a voice command input by a user based on the user'svoice, and a control means having a command execution mode in which thecontrol means executes the voice command recognized by the voicerecognition means, and a training mode in which the control meansprovides guidance on an operation of the vehicle-mounted controlapparatus to the user so as to make the user get training for operatingthe vehicle-mounted control apparatus, the control means displayingoperating guidance on the operation of the vehicle-mounted controlapparatus using a voice command in the training mode, and the voicerecognition means acquiring a voice for training which the user producesaccording to the voice command in the training mode, and learningfeatures of the user's voice based on the acquired voice for training.

When the user wants to know how to operate the vehicle-mounted controlapparatus, the vehicle-mounted control apparatus can provide the user anopportunity to get training for operating the vehicle-mounted controlapparatus so that the user can master the operation of thevehicle-mounted control apparatus effectively. Furthermore, since thevehicle-mounted control apparatus can also finish learning recognitionparameters for recognition of the user's voice by carrying out thetraining processing for making it possible for the user to master theoperation of the vehicle-mounted control apparatus, the presentinvention offers an advantage of being able to improve the accuracy ofvoice recognition without forcing the user to independently input avoice in order to make the vehicle-mounted control apparatus learn theuser's voice, thereby saving the user some work when performing controlaccording to a voice command.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a navigation apparatus inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the whole of processing performed by thevehicle-mounted control unit in accordance with the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart processing in a training mode in the embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of display by a display devicein accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of display by the displaydevice in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of advice in the embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of display by the displaydevice in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Hereafter, in order to explain this invention in greater detail, thepreferred embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiment 1.

FIG. 1 is a vehicle-mounted control apparatus in accordance with thisembodiment 1, and shows a car navigation apparatus as an example of thevehicle-mounted control apparatus.

In FIG. 1, a mainframe 1 has a control unit 2 that consists of amicroprocessor or the like, a memory 3 connected to the control unit 2,for storing programs and various data, a map information storage device4 also connected to the control unit 2, for storing digitized data aboutmaps, and a voice recognition unit 5 for recognizing spoken words from avoice signal input thereto from a microphone 8. The control unit 2 has afunction of controlling a display device 6 connected to the mainframe 1so as to display route information and road information required fornavigation on the display device 6. Although a liquid crystal display isgenerally used as the display device 6, any type of display can be usedas the display device 6, and the display device 6 can be integral withthe mainframe of the car navigation apparatus or can be embedded in apart of an indoor surface of a vehicle so that it is integral with thevehicle.

In order to carry out-navigation, the control unit 2 calculates thelocation of the vehicle in which the car navigation apparatus is mountedfrom signals from two or more satellites, which are received by a GPS(Global Positioning System) antenna 7, according to a calculation methodusing a well-known technique. The microphone 8 converts the user's voiceinto an electric signal and delivers it to the voice recognition unit 5,and a speaker 9 outputs a sound, such as a voice, a sound effect, ormusic, under control of the control unit 2.

An interface 10 has a function of passing on a signal indicating anoperating state of each electronic equipment disposed in the vehicle anda control signal for controlling each electronic equipment between thecontrol unit 2 and a control device for controlling an air conditioner,a headlight, and sensors for detecting the on/off states of a wiper andthe headlight, which are not shown in the figure.

An input device 11 is a device for detecting a command input theretofrom the user and outputs a signal corresponding to this command to thecontrol unit 2. As this input device 11, one of various input devicesfor converting a command input thereto from the user into a signal, suchas one or more buttons, a tablet, a touch sensor mounted on the displaydevice 6, a joystick, and a lever disposed in the vehicle, can be used.

This vehicle-mounted control apparatus has two modes: a commandexecution mode and a training mode.

The command execution mode is the one in which the car navigationapparatus performs normal operations, and, when the users inputs acommand by voice in the command execution mode, the voice recognitionunit 5 recognizes the voice command input by the user and the controlunit 2 performs processing-corresponding to the voice command. In thiscommand execution mode, the car navigation apparatus can perform controlof various pieces of vehicle-mounted electronic equipment, such assetting of a destination for navigation and start of route guidance,control of the air conditioner, such as adjustment of the volume of air,audio control, and control of electronic equipment intended fortransmission and reception of electronic mails and Internet ITS(Intelligent Transport Systems), and control of electronic equipmentdisposed outside the vehicle by way of the Internet, for example.

On the other hand, the training mode is the one in which the carnavigation apparatus provides guidance for performing a voice input tothe user so that the user can get training for performing a voice inputand can learn how to use the car navigation apparatus to make a voiceinput while trying various kinds of speaking (syntax, volume of voice,speed, etc.) at the time of making a voice input. At this time, incontrast to the case of the command execution mode in which the user isallowed to input a voice command on the user's own initiative, in thecase of the training mode the user performs a voice input according toan instruction from the vehicle-mounted control apparatus. For example,the vehicle-mounted control unit shows examples of the voice command sothat the user gets training for performing a voice input by using theseexamples. The user can perform switching between the command executionmode and the training mode by pushing down a selection button orselecting a corresponding item in a menu displayed on the displaydevice, for example.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the control unit 2 whichcan select either the command execution mode or the training modeaccording to the user's instruction. First, when the vehicle-mountedcontrol apparatus is started up, the vehicle-mounted control apparatusdisplays an initial screen at the time of startup (in step ST1). Thecontrol unit 2 performs a display of “Please select user” in the initialscreen, and displays a list of two or more user names that arepre-registered in the memory 2. The user who looks at this display canselect one user name from the list. When detecting a signal indicatingthe selected user name which is output from the input device 11, thecontrol unit 2 specifies the corresponding user based on this signal (instep ST2).

The control unit 2 further detects an input signal from the input device11, and checks to see whether the input signal indicates an instructionfor placing the control unit in the training mode (in step ST3). Whenthe user selects the training mode, the control unit 2 performsprocessing associated with the training mode of step ST4 (the processingassociated with the training mode will be explained with reference toFIG. 3). On the other hand, when the training mode is not selected bythe user, the control unit 2 performs processing associated with thecommand execution mode in steps ST5 and ST6. In the command executionmode, the control unit 2 waits for an input signal from the input device11 and/or an input of a voice command from the microphone 8 first (instep ST5).

When a voice is then input into the microphone 8 by the user, the voicerecognition unit 5 recognizes the input voice. At this time, the voicerecognition unit 5 reads a recognition parameter set for the userspecified in step ST2 from the memory 2, and recognizes the voice byusing this recognition parameter. The control unit 2 then specifieswhich one of the two or more types of commands has been input based on aresult of the voice recognition done by the voice recognition unit 5.The control unit 2 performs processing associated with the specifiedcommand (in step ST6).

Finally, the control unit 2 determines whether the user has performed anoperation of interrupting the processing by the vehicle-mounted controlapparatus (for example, an operation of turning off the power) based onan electric signal or the like from an electronic power supply key byway of the input device 11 or the interface (in step ST7). When the userhas not performed any operation of interrupting the processing by thevehicle-mounted control apparatus yet, the control unit 2 repeats theprocessing from step ST3. On the other hand, when the user has performedan operation of interrupting the processing by the vehicle-mountedcontrol apparatus, the control unit 2 ends the processing.

Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted control unit that is placedin the training mode will be explained. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of acorresponding program which the control unit 2 executes, and shows aprocess of step ST4 of FIG. 2.

When the user selects the training mode, the control unit 2 displays aninitial screen as shown in FIG. 4(a) on the display device 6 (in stepST11). This initial screen is provided for giving an explanation of aflow of the whole of the processing associated with the training mode tothe user.

Next, when the control unit 2 detects a command input thereto by way ofthe input device 11 and the input command indicates “start”, the controlunit 2 displays a screen showing an operating guide, as shown in FIG.4(b) (in step ST12). In the display of this operating guide, the controlunit 2 reads an example of the voice command from the memory 3, anddisplays it on the display device 6. At this time, as shown in FIG.4(b), the control unit 2 can also give an explanation of entireoperations including an operation of the input device 11 (for example,pushing down of a voice button at the time of a voice input).

When the user starts producing a voice according to the on-screenoperating guide, the control unit 2 records the user's voice received bythe microphone. 8 in the memory 2 (in step ST13). For example, when anexplanation of “Push down voice switch and speak “Nearby conveniencestore”” is displayed as the operating guide, the user can push down thevoice button disposed in a handle grip or the like and then startproducing a voice. The control unit 2 then starts recording a voicesignal received by the microphone 8 when the voice switch is pusheddown.

The control unit 2 then instructs the voice recognition unit 5 toperform analyses on the voice recorded in step ST13 and to learn thefeatures of the recorded voice (in step ST14). According to a well-knownvoice recognition algorithm, the voice recognition unit 5 analyzes thefeatures of the recorded voice and records an analysis result in thememory 2. For example, the voice recognition unit 5 compares a patternof the input voice with reference voice patterns stored in the memory 2,and performs analyses on each of a plurality of features, such as thesound level of the input voice, the speaking speed, the speaking timing,the likelihood of the input voice, or whether unnecessary spoken words(referred to as attached words from here on) are contained in the inputvoice pattern, and then outputs results of the analyses.

By comparing the user's voice pattern with the reference voice patterns,the voice recognition unit 5 performs analyses on the features of theuser's voice pattern and learns to make a correction to parameters forthe voice recognition according to the features of the user's voicepattern. The vehicle-mounted control apparatus can use well-knownvarious techniques for the voice recognition algorithm and the method oflearning parameters for the voice recognition. For example, the voicerecognition unit 5 can process step ST14 by executing a voicerecognition method using a hidden Markov model, which is disclosed byJapanese patent application publication No. 11-242494, and a method oflearning user-dependent parameters.

Then, the control unit 2 determines whether the input voice has a goodquality based on the analysis results obtained in step ST14 (in stepST15). The control unit 2 can determine whether the input voice has agood quality by using any one of the above-mentioned voice parametersindicating ease of carrying out voice recognition. For example, when oneof the plurality of features, i.e., the sound level of the input voice,the speaking speed, the speaking timing, the likelihood of the inputvoice, or whether attached words are contained in the input voicepattern shows “bad”, the control unit 2 determines that a final analysisresult is “bad”. On the other hand, when all the analysis results show“good”, the control unit 2 determines that the final analysis result is“good.”

When, in step ST15, determining that all the analysis results show good,the control unit 2 displays a score dependent upon the likelihood of theinput voice and a message of “Properly recognized your voice” on thedisplay device 6.

On the other hand, when, in step ST15, determining that any one of allthe analysis results shows “bad”, the control unit 2 displays a textassociated with the analysis results on the display device 6 as adviceinformation (as for the text, refer to a list of pieces of advice shownin FIG. 6). An example of the text displayed on the display device isshown in FIG. 4(c). The control unit 2 can also display a scoreindicating the likelihood of the input voice on the display device 6. Atthis time, the score can be data corresponding to this score, the databeing abstracted from the score which the control unit 2 uses internallyso that the user can easily understand the score. For example, when theinternally-used score falls within a range of 0 to 1000 points, thecontrol unit 2 divides this range of the internally-used score into tenequal parts of 100 points, converts them into zero-th to 10-th levels,and then displays a corresponding level on the display device 6 as thescore.

The control unit 2 then determines whether all the entries for trainingwhich are prepared in advance have been ended (in step ST18). When thetraining processing for all the entries for training is not completed,the control unit 2 returns to step ST12 in which the control unitrepeats the training processing for a different example of the voicecommand.

On the other hand, when the training processing for all the entries fortraining is completed, the control unit 2 displays entire analysisresults and pieces of advice based on the analysis results, as shown inFIG. 5 (in step ST19). FIG. 6 shows categories of the results ofanalyses on the voice input and plural pieces of corresponding textualadvice displayed in step ST18.

For example, when repeatedly carrying out steps ST12 to ST18 so as tomake the user get five sets of training for a total of five differentvoice commands, the control unit 2 collectively displays five scores andfive pieces of advice which respectively correspond to the first tofifth sets of training, as shown in FIG. 5. For example, when the soundlevel of the input voice which is a result of the first set of trainingis −30 dB or less, the control unit 2 displays “1 Please speak moreloudly.” on the display device 6. Although the contents of thecorresponding textual advice include a text showing the analysis result(for example, “The sound level is low”, and a piece of textual adviceindicating remedial measures taken against the voice input (for example,“Please speak more loudly.”), the control unit 2 can display only thetextual advice in order to simplify the text displayed in step ST17, asshown in FIG. 5.

When the screen display of FIG. 5 is displayed and the user selects anicon of “RETRY” using the input device 11, the control unit 2 repeatsthe training processing from step ST11.

Finally, when the user selects an icon of “REGISTRATION”, the controlunit 2 stores the parameters learned in step ST14 in the memory 2 as theparameters intended for the current user (in step ST20). At this time,the control unit 2 can separately store the parameters learned for theuser in a memory location on a user-by-user basis. First, the controlunit 2 displays an inquiry screen in which the control unit 2 inquiresof the user about which memory location is selected from among aplurality of memory locations separately provided on a user-by-userbasis for storing the parameters learned for the current user on thedisplay device 6, as shown in FIG. 7. The selection by the user is inputinto the input device 11, and the control unit 2 specifies acorresponding memory location based on the input information from theinput device 11 and stores the learned parameters in the specifiedmemory location. When parameters for the current user are alreadyregistered, the control unit 2 combines the already registeredparameters and the parameters currently learned for the current userinto parameters and stores the combined parameters in the memory. Anytype of method of combining the already registered parameters and theparameters currently learned for the current user can be used as long asthis combining method improves the accuracy of voice recognition. Forexample, a method of averaging the existing parameters and thecurrently-learned parameters, or a method of adding them after assigningweights to the existing parameters and the currently-learned parametersaccording to the significance of the newest learned parameters can beused.

Details of Voice Analysis

For example, the control unit determines whether the input voice has agood quality according to the following methods (see FIG. 6 as fordetection methods).

(1) The Presence or Absence of an Attached Word at the Head of the InputSentence

The voice recognition unit 5 compares the input sentence or voice withreference patterns respectively associated with attached words, whichare stored in the memory 2, and, when the input voice includes a patternwhich agrees with an attached word at the head thereof, outputs ananalysis result indicating “bad”. In contrast, when the input voiceincludes no pattern which agrees with any attached word at the headthereof, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs an analysis resultindicating “good”.

(2) Whether the Sound Level is High or Low

The voice recognition unit 5 determines whether the sound level of theinput voice falls within a predetermined range, and, when determiningthat the sound level of the input voice doesn't fall within thepredetermined range, outputs an analysis result indicating “bad”. Incontrast, when determining that the sound level of the input voice fallswithin the predetermined range, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs ananalysis result indicating “good”. For example, when a maximum soundlevel that can be detected by the microphone 8 is 0 dB, thepredetermined range of the sound level can be set to a range from −30 dBto less than 0 dB.

(3) Whether the Speaking Time is Long or Short

The voice recognition unit 5 measures the time length of the inputvoice, compares this time length with the time length of thecorresponding reference pattern, and, when the difference between themfalls within a predetermined range, determines that the input voice hasa good quality.

The predetermined range can be set to an arbitrary value. For example,the predetermined range can be set to a range from −25% to +25% of thetime length of the reference pattern.

(4) The Speaking Timing

The voice recognition unit 5 determines whether the speaking timing ofthe input voice falls within a predetermined timing range. Whendetermining that the speaking timing of the input voice falls within thepredetermined timing range, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs ananalysis result indicating “good”. In contrast, when determining thatthe speaking timing of the input voice doesn't fall within thepredetermined timing range, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs ananalysis result indicating “bad”. For example, when the user's voice hasbeen input from the beginning of a time period during which themicrophone 8 can receive the user's voice, the voice recognition unit 5outputs an analysis result indicating “bad”. Also, when the input voicehas been produced over a period of time that exceeds a maximum inputtime period set for the voice command, or when the voice input has beendetected at the last of the above-mentioned time period which themicrophone 8 can receive the user's voice, the voice recognition unit 5outputs an analysis result indicating “bad”. In cases other than thosecases, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs an analysis resultindicating “good”.

(5) The Likelihood of the Pattern

The voice recognition unit 5 compares the input voice pattern with thecorresponding reference pattern stored in the memory 2 so as to detectthe likelihood of the input voice pattern. When determining that thelikelihood of the input voice pattern is equal to or greater than apredetermined threshold, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs ananalysis result indicating “good”. In contrast, when determining thatthe likelihood of the input voice pattern is less than the predeterminedthreshold, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs an analysis resultindicating “bad”. The likelihood is defined by a Euclidean distancebetween the input voice pattern and the corresponding reference pattern.At this time, the voice recognition unit 5 computes a score based on thelikelihood of the input voice pattern. For example, the voicerecognition unit 5 computes the score as a function of the likelihood ofthe input voice pattern in such a manner that the score varies inproportion to the likelihood of the input voice pattern, assuming thatthe score becomes 1000 when the likelihood theoretically has the highestvalue and the score becomes 0 when the likelihood can be assumed topractically have the lowest value. Although the threshold can be set toan arbitrary value, the threshold can be set to 600 or more, forexample.

(6) The Presence or Absence of an Attached Word at the End of the InputSentence

The voice recognition unit 5 determines whether the input voice includesa pattern which agrees with an attached word at the end thereof, as inthe case of the detection (1) of an attached word at the head of theinput sentence. When detecting an attached word at the end of the inputvoice, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs an analysis resultindicating “bad”. In contrast, when detecting no attached word at theend of the input voice, the voice recognition unit 5 outputs an analysisresult indicating “good”.

Details of Examples of the Command

In the training mode, as previously explained with reference to stepsST12 and ST13 of FIG. 3, the user is allowed to get training for two ormore different commands. The structure of each example of the commandwill be explained hereafter. Examples of the command are stored in thememory 2. For example, the control unit 2 can use five examples of thecommand as follows:

-   (a) Searching for nearby facilities    -   “Nearby convenience stores”-   (b) Searching for address    -   “Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo”-   (c) Searching for facilities    -   “TOKYO DOME in Tokyo”-   (d) Setting of Destination    -   “I'm going to this destination”-   (e) Control instructions other than root setting    -   “Two Screens”

The above sentences (a) to (e) include commands which comply withdifferent syntaxes, respectively, and the voice recognition unit 5 canlearn the plurality of voices which the user produce according to thedifferent syntaxes, respectively. Therefore, as compared with a casewhere the voice recognition unit 5 learns sentences which the userspeaks according to a monotonous syntax, such as “Nearby conveniencestores” and “Nearby gas stations”, the voice recognition unit 5 canperform the learning processing with a higher degree of recognitionaccuracy.

In addition, the above sentences (a) to (e) include words which differfrom one another in their parts of speech. For example, the abovesentences (a) to (e) include nouns and numerals, and therefore the voicerecognition unit 5 can learn speaker-dependent recognition parametersfor not only nouns, such as the names of places, but also thepronunciations of numeric characters. Therefore, the present inventioncan prevent improvements in the recognition accuracy provided by thelearning processing from being produced only for nouns such as the namesof places.

Although the above description is directed to the car navigationapparatus, the vehicle-mounted control apparatus in accordance with thepresent invention is not limited to the car navigation apparatus. Forexample, as long as the vehicle-mounted control apparatus controlseither the vehicle or electronic equipment disposed outside the vehicleaccording to the user's voice, the vehicle-mounted control apparatus canbe any type of electronic equipment. For example, the vehicle-mountedcontrol apparatus can be vehicle-mounted electronic equipment such as acontrol apparatus for controlling an air conditioner, or a controlapparatus for controlling audio equipment. As an alternative, thevehicle-mounted control apparatus can be a control apparatus forcontrolling electronic equipment disposed outside the vehicle by way ofa transmitter connected to the interface 10. The electronic equipmentdisposed outside the vehicle can be any type of equipment, e.g.,electronic equipment connected to the vehicle-mounted control apparatusby way of a communication line, such as an air conditioner intended forhome use or business use, a house security system, a home server,another electric appliance, a payment system disposed in a dealer ordistributor, such as a fast food shop or a gas station, or a gatedisposed at the entrance of a parking lot.

Although the voice recognition unit 5 is constructed of an LSI intendedfor voice recognition in the control apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, thevoice recognition unit is not limited to the special-purpose circuitry.A program for voice recognition stored in the memory 2 can bealternatively used as the voice recognition unit. In this case, thevoice recognition program is executed by either the control unit 2 or anindependent processor chiefly used for voice recognition.

In accordance with the above-mentioned embodiment, the voice recognitionunit 5 conducts a speech analysis as pre-processing and the control unit2 performs a process of displaying advice using results of the speechanalysis. As an alternative, the control unit 2 can also performprocessing other than the process of acquiring the likelihood of theinput voice pattern.

In addition, in accordance with the above-mentioned embodiment, althoughrecognition parameters are registered for each of two or more users, itis not necessary to separately store recognition parameters, which areregistered in the training mode, on a user-by-user basis when only aspecific user uses the vehicle-mounted control apparatus. When only aspecific user uses the vehicle-mounted control apparatus, the userregistration process of step ST2 in FIG. 2 becomes unnecessary.

A volatile memory or/and a nonvolatile memory can be used as the memory2. A storage unit, such as a hard disk or a DVD-RAM, can be used as thestorage means.

The above-mentioned training mode is very useful because in this modethe vehicle-mounted control apparatus outputs advice from the results ofanalysis performed on the voice for training so that the user can amendthe method of operating the vehicle-mounted control apparatus.Therefore, the training mode can be also used as a training mode withoutthe above-mentioned function of learning recognition parameters.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As mentioned above, the vehicle-mounted control apparatus in accordancewith the present invention is suitable for saving users some work whenperforming control according to a voice command.

1. A vehicle-mounted control apparatus comprising: a voice recognitionmeans for recognizing a voice command input by a user based on theuser's voice; and a control means having a command execution mode inwhich said control means executes the voice command recognized by saidvoice recognition means, and a training mode in which said control meansprovides guidance on an operation of said vehicle-mounted controlapparatus to the user so as to make the user get training for operatingsaid vehicle-mounted control apparatus, said control means displayingoperating guidance on the operation of said vehicle-mounted controlapparatus using a voice command in said training mode, and said voicerecognition means acquiring a voice for training which the user producesaccording to said voice command in said training mode, and learningfeatures of the user's voice based on the acquired voice for training.2. The vehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that when there are two or more types of voice commandswhich comply with different syntaxes, respectively, said control meansprovides guidance on an operation of said vehicle-mounted controlapparatus using a voice command according to one of said syntaxes to theuser and receives input of a voice for training in said training modetwo or more times while changing the voice command which is a target fortraining.
 3. The vehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 1,characterized in that said-control means-displays results of analysis ofthe user's voice for training according to said operating guidance onthe operation of said vehicle-mounted control apparatus.
 4. Thevehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 1, characterized inthat said control means displays advice information associated with saidanalysis results according to said analysis results.
 5. Thevehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 4, characterized inthat said voice recognition unit compares a preset time length with alength of said voice for training, and said control means outputs, assaid advice information, a display for urging the user to make acorrection to a time required for the user to produce the voice based ona comparison result obtained by said voice recognition unit when thelength of said voice for training is longer than said preset timelength.
 6. The vehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 4,characterized in that said voice recognition unit determines whethersaid voice for training is equal to or less than a threshold, and saidcontrol means outputs, as said advice information, a display for urgingthe user to increase a sound level of the voice which the user producesbased on a determination result obtained by said voice recognition unit.7. The vehicle-mounted control apparatus according to claim 4,characterized in that said voice recognition unit determines-whethersaid voice for training has a sound which does not belong to said voicecommand, and, when said voice recognition unit determines that saidvoice for training has a sound which does not belong to said voicecommand, said control means outputs, as said advice information, adisplay for urging the user to make a correction to the sound which doesnot belong to said voice command.
 8. The vehicle-mounted controlapparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said voicerecognition unit determines whether said voice for training has beeninput at an earlier timing than what has been predetermined, and saidcontrol means outputs, as said advice information, a display for urgingthe user to make a correction to the timing at which the user producesthe voice based on a determination result obtained by said voicerecognition unit.
 9. A program that causes a computer to execute amethod of providing guidance on an operation of a vehicle-mountedcontrol apparatus having a command execution mode in which saidvehicle-mounted control apparatus executes a voice command recognized bya voice recognition means, and a training mode in which saidvehicle-mounted control apparatus provides guidance on an operation ofsaid vehicle-mounted control apparatus to a user so as to makes the userget training for operating said vehicle-mounted control apparatus, saidprogram comprising: a guidance providing step of providing guidance onan operation of said vehicle-mounted control apparatus, which is storedin a storage device, to a user in said training mode; a recording stepof recording a voice for training which the user produces according tothe guidance on the operation of said vehicle-mounted control apparatus,which is provided in the guidance providing step; a voice recognitionstep of recognizing the user's voice based on the voice for trainingrecorded in said recording step by means of a voice recognition means,and outputting results of analysis of the recognized voice to the user;and a learning step of learning features of the user's voice based onthe voice for training recorded in said recording step.
 10. The programaccording to claim 9 that causes a computer to execute a method ofproviding guidance on an operation of a vehicle-mounted controlapparatus, said program further comprising a correction advice step ofgiving advice about a correction to be made to voice input to the userbased on said voice for training.